Hope for the Hurting

It takes much courage and patience to live in a fallen world bearing witness to the reality of Jesus and to the power of the gospel. In Mark 5:21-43 Mark describes a narrative concerning two suffering people, one named, a man who is a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, and one unnamed, an anonymous, almost invisible woman, who has been suffering with a discharge of blood that leaves her not only physically disabled, but socially, spiritually, psychologically cut off from society. What do we learn in this narrative about Jesus’ ministry and what lessons can we draw from this? First, we learn of the desperation of life. Both the synagogue ruler whose little girl is dying and the woman are desperate. They are hopeless and helpless with nowhere to turn. And this leads them to a crossroads. They can shut down, despair or reach out and turn to Jesus. Which is our second point, the dynamics of faith. We learn several lessons about faith in this narrative. And third, we learn the design of Jesus. And Jesus’ design is for restoration. For the woman he does more than just simply heal her. He brings her forward, out into the public to minister to her holistically. And Jairus’ daughter, gets not only healed, but a resurrection.

It is amazing in v.30 of this text that Jesus says that power went out from him. And the apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians “For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4). So Jesus’ power is demonstrated in weakness, specifically the weakness of the cross. Jesus deals tenderly but powerfully with both the woman and the little girl. He takes the little girl by the hand, putting her hand in his and loves her, bringing her back to life. And Jesus’ power is most clearly seen in the weakness of his dying on the cross for us. And it is through his death and subsequent resurrection that Jesus defeats death, giving us hope for the hurting, in the midst of the pain of life.